GOP AGs Urging Impeachment Of Secretary Mayorkas Squirm When Asked About Trump

WASHINGTON ― Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) made a panel of GOP state attorneys normal squirm on Wednesday when he obtained them to all agree on what counts as impeachable offenses ― after which requested them about Donald Trump’s conduct.

House Republicans introduced in three GOP state attorneys normal to testify in a listening to in assist of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Republicans, who’ve been blaming President Joe Biden for a document surge in migration on the U.S.-Mexico border, at the moment are refocusing on Mayorkas of their efforts to make the border disaster a serious political subject heading into the 2024 elections.

The listening to itself was a stunt. The customary for impeachment, per the Constitution, is committing “high crimes and misdemeanors” like treason or bribery. Mayorkas, a cupboard secretary charged with finishing up immigration legal guidelines, as damaged as they might be, has not been accused of any such crimes.

But Swalwell took the chance to ask the GOP’s witnesses ― Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey ― what they contemplate to be an impeachable offense.

“Bribery?” Swalwell requested the panel. All three mentioned sure.

“Extortion?” Swalwell requested. All mentioned sure.

“Obstruction of justice?” he continued. All three mentioned sure, although Knudsen mentioned he thought it will require a conviction first.

“Inciting violence against police officers?” requested Swawell. Knudsen mentioned sure, if there was a conviction. Drummond mentioned sure. Bailey mentioned he “would need more facts.”

And then, the California Democrat threw them for a loop. He introduced up Trump’s conduct lately, and requested the attorneys normal for his or her authorized opinions on whether or not their occasion’s presidential front-runner deserved to be impeached over his actions.

“In the summer of 2019, former President Donald Trump used $300 million of taxpayer dollars to ask President Zelenskyy of Ukraine to get dirt on his potential primary political opponent, Joe Biden. He was impeached in the House for that,” Swalwell mentioned. “Should he have been impeached for that?”

Suddenly, no person had authorized opinions about impeachment anymore.

“I’m not a member of this Congress. I’m not privy to all of that information,” the Montana legal professional normal mentioned of the very publicized scandal. “I certainly haven’t seen a lot of those reports. This body chose to go forward with those proceedings, as is its purview.”

“It’s outside my lane,” mentioned Drummond. “I’m just a simple attorney general from Oklahoma.”

“That’s beyond the purview of my testimony today,” mentioned Bailey.

Swalwell moved on, asking about Trump inciting an revolt on Jan. 6, 2021.

“He incited and aimed a violent mob at the Capitol. Six police officers would later lose their lives. One lost a finger. One lost an eye,” he mentioned. “The president was impeached. Ten Republicans voted for that impeachment. Mr. Knudsen, should he have been impeached for that?”

“He was,” mentioned Knudsen.

“He was impeached for that,” echoed Drummond. Asked if he believed that Trump ought to have been impeached for that, Drummond replied, “I don’t have an opinion.”

“He was acquitted of those charges,” is all that Bailey mentioned.

The California Democrat known as it “interesting” that the GOP state attorneys normal got here all the way in which to Washington, D.C., to share their authorized opinions in assist of impeaching Mayorkas, however had nothing to say about Trump’s previous actions.

“You believe pretty clearly that [Mayorkas] can be impeached for his conduct, but when we go through pretty egregious conduct of using taxpayer dollars, of inciting and aiming a mob, having the greatest attack ever on this Congress, this Capitol, our Constitution, you don’t want to comment on it,” he informed the witnesses. “At all.”

More broadly, Swalwell mentioned their silence on Trump’s conduct exhibits how hole the House Republicans’ effort is to question Mayorkas.

“They’re not interested in finding any solution to the border,” he mentioned of the GOP. “We have witnesses who want to comment only on Mayorkas, but don’t want to comment on President Trump…. I just see a party that does not want to fix, but only wants the fiction.”